“That will never happen to me” is a cliché many of us apply to a number of aspects in our lives, yet we subconsciously take precautions to protect ourselves. We buy home insurance in case of theft or fire, we buy life insurance to protect our families in the event of our death and we buy car insurance in case we are in a car accident. Some of us buy business insurance to protect our company. Many of us overlook the biggest “insurance” we should be investing our time and money in from the beginning. The “insurance” provided in ensuring a thriving business. What does it mean to ensure a thriving business?
The first step to creating a thriving business is preparing an operational manual that will guarantee business survival through any hurdle including business growth, owner absenteeism, and even owner death. Most business owners never stop to consider what might happen if they were injured, sick, or worse. By taking a precautionary role in your business, ask yourself how things would work if “it did happen to me.” What would happen if my spouse, child, or parent was sick tomorrow – could I dedicate the time to their recovery?
These are all things we think we won’t have to worry about, but what if the occasion arises? Step back for a minute and think about how your business would change if you needed to take the time to dedicate to a personal problem. Perhaps for a short term, business wouldn’t change much; but, what if you needed to step back for an extended period of time? What would happen then?
Today’s small business success hinges on the expertise and skills of the owner. What happens to the business should the owner become ill or die? In many cases, a family member steps in out of obligation. Often they lack the skills necessary to allow the business to truly thrive. They don’t have the same dedication, determination or passion to see the business succeed as you did. In many cases, a family member will promise to maintain a family business thinking “I won’t ever have to worry about that.” After all, no one thinks it will actually become their responsibility.
By creating an operational manual that outlines every facet of your day-to-day operations, your business could easily continue uninterrupted. Including pertinent company information and a full description of how daily tasks are carried out will ensure tasks will be handled in the same manner you would expect. Family members could easily hire someone to manage operations based upon your manual. This way, they will know things were being handled as you would handle them.
Step back for a minute and think about what it means for you to truly create a thriving business. Just like plants need essential tools to survive, so does your business. The ingredients may be different but providing them is no less important. Plants need water, sun and dirt in order to grow vigorously and healthily. Your business needs a successful team leader, a desired product or service and a plan for success and profitability. Most businesses have two of the key ingredients and are missing the most important one. If you leave instructions for watering your plants, shouldn’t you leave instructions for running your business?
Yvonne Weld is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business and is the owner of ABLE Virtual Assistant Services (www.ableva.com). For more information about The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business and how you can protect your business from unexpected absences due to injury, sickness or even death, visit the Web site at http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com.
Published in Networking Today, March 2007
